Expansion Of Largely Unknown Treaty Used By Obama To Expand Power To Control
Lands and Waters.

Approximately 600 Million Acres at issue by U.S./Canada Commission Proposing
Massive Expansion of Jurisdiction over Lands & Waters in Northern States and
Canada

Problem: Attempt by Obama Administration to use various wetlands and water
jurisdiction tools to gain control over all lands and waters to achieve the
goals they failed to win in the last Congress with the Clean Water Restoration
Act by former Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) and former Senator Russ Feingold
(D-WI).

This was the bill that tried to remove the word "Navigable" from
the Clean Water Act. The Obama Administration is still trying to bypass the word
"Navigable" through its new EPA, Corps of Engineers "Wetlands
Guidance Regulations" which Congress is trying to defund.

Through an International Watershed Initiative, the Obama Administration is
working to expand the jurisdiction of a largely unknown International Joint
Commission (IJC), created by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the U.S.
and Canada, proposing to expand their jurisdiction beyond border waters to
include entire international watersheds.

-----See map of full jurisdiction boundaries at www.landrights.org
It is right on the home page under International Joint Commission.

-----It is estimated that these watersheds include over 600 million acres of
lands and waters and possibly a lot more. For example, the International Joint
Commission during the Obama Administration has added a plan to expand their
jurisdiction over the entire Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Area that you
stopped the BLM and Forest Service from taking jurisdiction over in1996.

Just the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Basin Plan area is 144 million
acres including all of eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, all of Idaho, western
Montana and smaller parts of California, Utah and Wyoming.

The International Joint Commission is proposing to expand its jurisdiction to
include massive areas of all the border states and some other northern tier
states from Washington to Maine using watershed and ecosystems management as
their tools.

Their plan is to use Watershed Management to spread expanded jurisdiction
across as much of the United States as possible.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is going far beyond anything in the
original scope of the treaty.

The three U.S. Commissioners are presidential appointees. The Chairman, Lana
Pollack, was appointed by President Obama in 2010. She is the former President
of the Michigan Environmental Council, comprised of 70 environmental
organizations.

-----Like 13 federal agencies, the Commission subscribes to an ecosystems
management policy, adopted in 1993 by former Vice President Al Gore.

-----Ecosystems management, which is just a theory, has never been approved
by Congress and has been discredited by ecologists since World War II. For
background, read Alston Chase's great book, "In A Dark Wood."

The Commission has enormous influence with Federal regulatory agencies,
including the Environmental Protection Agency, Corps of Engineers, National Park
Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U. S. Bureau of
Land Management.

A pilot project has just been approved for northern Minnesota and northwest
Ontario by both the US and Canadian governments through the U.S. State
Department and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs.

This pilot project is intended to be a model for governance and is likely to
broaden regulatory powers and management by the US Regulatory Agencies.

The intent of this pilot project is to create a government model that can be
applied to the other international watersheds and will likely lead to the
expansion of regulatory powers and jurisdiction by US regulatory agencies.

-----Myth: "Were here to give more power to the local people"
Reality: This is a plan to expand Federal power over vast areas of rural
America.

Additional pilot projects are being planned for other areas in the border and
northern states and Canada. The program represents a new and imminent threat to
private property rights, state's rights, rural America, local communities,
access and use of Federal lands, outdoor recreation, small business, mining,
timber harvesting, energy production, and other interests.

For a Map of known IJC Areas Go to www.landrights.org and look for
International Joint Commission on Home Page. Further expansion appears likely.

IJC Bullet Points:

Here are some bullet points about the first pilot project of the IJC
Minnesota/Canada pilot project for this massive initiative that the Commission
intends to spread across the country:

-----The 184-page IJC report concluded that "there is broad agreement
that water quality is threatened, that ecosystem health is deteriorating, that
communication is not encompassing, and that current government mechanisms are
fragmented." (Note: This not only appears to be blatantly false, but an
insult to local people, their elected officials, and state and local agencies).

-----The report further concludes that the IJC's ongoing efforts will
"most importantly, be best for the watershed itself." (Think about
what this statement means!).

-----The IJC appointed a long-time National Park Service employee to a newly
created 'citizen member' position on an important control board, apparently
without any formal application process (Note: This is a clear conflict of
interest, and a mockery of the democratic process).

-----A U.S. district court judge ruled that the designation of a federal
wilderness area in northern Minnesota did not conflict with the Boundary Waters
Treaty because it was a latter-enacted statute (Note: A U.S. statute cannot
trump a treaty--this is taught in law school 101!)

-----The same judge ruled that the U.S. had no reason to believe that banning
dozens of border lakes to motorized recreation was in error because Canada had
already closed the Canadian portion of dozens of border lakes to motorized
recreation. The Canadian Government, in a formal legal opinion, strongly
disagreed with the opinion of the U.S. Judge by saying that Ontario, not Canada,
closed the lakes, and that Canada, not Ontario is a party to the Treaty. (Note:
This is also taught in law school 101). This issue still hasn't been resolved.

-----In a lawsuit challenging National Park Service boating restrictions on
border waters, the case was referred to a federal magistrate instead of going
directly to District Court where it belonged (How in the world can this happen?)

-----The federal magistrate ruled in favor of the National Park Service
(Surprise, surprise!).

-----A boater's association later discovered that approximately 45 minutes
were missing from the hearing transcript in the above case. Requests to review
the audio tape of the hearing were refused by the court

The IJC has no business expanding their domain until existing Treaty
conflicts have been resolved. For more information about the IJC Google
International Joint Commission or IJC.

Solution: A grassroots organizational effort by local people and their
elected officials at all levels is needed to prevent further Federal expansion
and control of lands and waters by the IJC and U.S. Regulatory Agencies and
other Obama water initiatives.

This effort must be nationwide copying your successful nationwide defeat of
CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act in 2000 and the Interior Columbia
Basin Ecosystem Plan in the 90's.

It has been demonstrated that local alternatives to top-down federal programs
are better, faster, and cheaper, and more consistent with constitutional
principles.

Action Items:

-----1. Please forward this e-mail to at least 10 other people. Your whole
list if possible. You can edit out the appeal by American Land Rights for
contributions if you wish. We hope you won't but this message is so important
that it needs to spread like wildfire.

-----2. Contact both your Senators by calling (202) 224-3121. Or write: (send
by fax it you can): Honorable (Your Senator), US Senate, Washington DC, 20510.
Ask for the fax number when you call.

-----4. Call your county commissioners and other local elected officials,
legislators. Alert them to this pending threat to your rights and property. Ask
them to demand that the International Joint Commission (IJC) hold hearings in
affected areas and that the House and Senate hold Congressional hearings on this
issue before it gets off the ground.

Ask your Members of the House and Senate to use whatever tools they have to
block the IJC until Congress gets a chance to place the IJC under control.
Congress must take away funding for the IJC.

Please join American Land Rights and many other groups in stopping the
International Joint Commission from taking control of a huge area of the United
States.

You can support this effort by sending your contribution for $1,000, $500,
$200, $100, $50, $35, $25 or whatever you can afford.

This threat is huge and must be taken seriously. Action must happen quickly.
Your support will allow American Land Rights to send tens of thousands of
letters, faxes and e-mails to your allies and friends to get them into action.

Your support is needed to help our efforts to keep you informed about the IJC
and other threats. Please help by joining ALRA or send a contribution to
American Land Rights.

Go to www.landrights.org to make a contribution or send a check for $35 to
American Land Rights, PO Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604. Please mail your
check with "In A Dark Wood" written in the notation section. Please
send an extra $3.99 to cover shipping.

With the Endangered Species Act battle heating up over the Sage Grouse and
the past war over the Spotted Owl, Ecosystem Management is as hot an issue today
as ever.

With your NEW Membership you will receive a free copy of "In A Dark
Wood" by Alston Chase. List price: $29.25. ALRA believes this is the best
book available about ecosystem management and the Endangered Species Act.
Experts have said it is one of the top 100 books of the 20th century. American
Land Rights has acquired a limited number of copies of the hardback edition of
the book that are no longer available in bookstores.

Hurry with your new Membership. Supplies are limited. In a Dark Wood: The
Fight Over Forests & the Myths of Nature by Alston Chase. Here is a Review
by Felicitas Kraemer

"In a Dark Wood" presents a history of debates among ecologists
over what constitutes good forestry, and a critique of the ecological reasoning
behind contemporary strategies of preservation, including the Endangered Species
Act. Chase argues that these strategies, in many instances adopted for
political, rather than scientific reasons, fail to promote biological diversity
and may actually harm more creatures than they help. At the same time, Chase
offers examples of conservation strategies that work, but which are deemed
politically incorrect and ignored.

In a Dark Wood provides the most thoughtful and complete account yet written
of radical environmentalism. And it challenges the fundamental--but largely
unexamined--assumptions of preservationism, such as those concerning whether
there is a "balance of nature," whether all branches of ecology are
really science, and whether ecosystems exist. In his new introduction, Chase
evaluates the response to his book and reports on recent developments in
environmental science, policy, and politics.

In a Dark Wood was judged by a recent national poll to be one of the one
hundred best nonfiction books written in the English language during the
twentieth century. A smashing good read, this book will be of interest to
environmentalists, ecologists, philosophers, biologists, and bio-ethicists, and
anyone concerned about ecological issues.

Readers who want more background on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and
ecosystem management should also read "Playing God In Yellowstone"
also by Alston Chase.

American Land Rights is a team player and coalition builder. It is important
to stress that you should continue to support any groups that you are already a
member of. We hope you will also support American Land Rights.

PS. It is impossible to overstate how important it is to quickly call both
your Senators and your Congressman about the International Joint Commission. The
IJC is ecosystem management on steroids.

American Land Rights must alert your allies and friends quickly to get
Congress to stop this massive land and water grab. Please send your special
contribution for whatever you can afford to American Land Rights. PO Box 400,
Battle Ground, WA, 98604. Or go to www.landrights.org